Denial of Service
by TehMiniHippo
Summary: The world of Pokemon has changed. No longer the world of peace and safety that it once was, now two eighteen year olds, a boy and a girl, find themselves journeying together as they attempt to dispel the evil that lurks.
1. A Lack of Concern

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or associated characters, only characters of my own invention.**

** Chapter 1 – A Lack of Concern**

'Clarity!' cried a girl in anguish as her little electric sheep slumped to the ground defeated. Eighteen years old with deep brown eyes and stomach length blue hair, wearing a purple mini-skirt and matching body hugging tank top along with fashionable black boots and crescent shaped earrings, the girl was extremely pretty. A little too pretty, in fact.

'I just love such naive young girls that think they can go out on their own little fun adventure with suck weak Pokémon and expect nothing to go wrong,' laughed a man of about thirty who stood looking down on the girl with a sadistic kind of hunger alight within his eyes. About twice the size of her in every way conceivable, the man was also about as ugly as he was big.

'What the hell do you want?' the girl demanded angrily, hiding her fear behind defiance.

'What else would I want with such a pretty little lady?' he smirked, advancing on her. His Granbull, a purple bulldog Pokémon which stood on its hind legs, ran around behind the girl to prevent her from escaping.

'Stay away from me,' the girl warned him as she raised her fists, her voice shaking slightly with a mixture of rage and terror.

'You're are feisty one aren't you? That just makes it all the more fun...' he laughed manically.

'GET AWAY FROM ME!' she yelled, punching him as hard as she could in the side of his face. The man made no effort to dodge, just laughed.

'That hurt you little bitch... Well, I'll make sure to pay you back for it...'

He reached forwards and grabbed her by the wrists, pulling her towards him, laughing all the more as he did so. This was the most fun he could ever remember having, and it was only going to get better.

'Let go of me! LET GO!' she screamed, kicking and fighting desperately with every inch of her strength, even biting down hard on his arm to try and get him to let go. The man was just too big though, and he pushed her still struggling to the ground, letting go of her wrists and holding her down with his knee. The use of her arms restored, she punched him in the face again, but the man grinned wider, pushing her arm away with one hand and reaching towards her chest.

She screamed, this time in genuine terror, but before his hand could reach her a large shape came flying in from the side and slammed into the shoulder of the man with enough force to throw him several metres through the air.

The man landed with a dull thud on the ground, knocked out by the force of impact despite his size. The Granbull snarled angrily and leapt forward to seek revenge for its trainer, but the beast that had appeared sent it flying over to land unconscious next to its trainer with a simple swipe of its wing.

The girl gasped in shock and stared up with awe at the Pokémon which now stood before her. Tan in color, and in the shape of a dragon, she recognised it as a prime specimen from the rare and mythical species of Dragonite.

'Dragooo?' the Pokémon inquired, looking down upon the girl anxiously.

'I'm okay... I think,' she replied shakily, guessing at what the Pokémon was asking. Of course it was impossible for her to completely understand the Dragonite after just meeting it, the only Pokémon with whom she could fully communicate was her Mareep, Clarity.

'Clarity!' she cried, suddenly remembering her Pokémon. The girl scrambled to her feet and rushed over to the poor beaten up little thunder sheep.

'Clarity, please say something,' she whimpered, stroking the dirty and muddy fur that had only a few minutes ago been so beautiful. Hearing her voice and Mareep opened its eyes and gave a soft baa.

'I'm so sorry Clarity,' the girl sobbed. 'Please be okay!'

'She'll be fine,' came a bored and irritated male voice from not far away. 'Not like attacks from weaklings like that are going to do any serious damage...'

The girl looked up, searching for the source of the voice, and locked eyes with a pair of blue belonging to a boy of roughly the same age as her. The girl looked him over, taking in his whole appearance. His hair was dark brown, medium length and messy, while his clothes were plain, a simple light green t-shirt and knee length black shorts with a blue backpack. Although his appearance was relatively ordinary, however, the way the boy held himself and his posture exuded an aura of confidence and power.

'Who are you?' she asked, still in shock from the incident. 'Is that your Dragonite?'

A look of annoyance crossed the face of the boy. 'Who I am does not concern you. But yes, that is my Dragonite,' he said, recalling his Pokémon as he spoke.

'Clarity, thank you, take a good rest now,' whispered the girl, before drawing out a Pokeball adorned with many little heart stickers and pushing it gently against the Mareep, drawing her inside. She then looked up again, only to find that the boy had turned and was already leaving without so much as a goodbye.

'Hey!' she called after him, quickly getting to her feet again. 'You haven't told me your name yet!'

'Like I said, it doesn't concern you,' said the boy in his bored and complacent tone, without even bothering to turn around. 'Go home where you belong. It's not safe to leave the cities and towns by yourself these days.'

'Oi, wait!' called the girl in annoyance, dusting herself down and quickly re-adjusting her skirt before going after him, picking up her pink backpack as she went.

'What do you want?' the boy asked in irritation, still refusing to look back at her.

'You can't just save me and then leave me all alone,' she said, a fiery and determined look in her eyes.

'I told you, go home if you don't want trouble,' the boy said. 'Either that or put some clothes on that make you look less like a girl working the street corners.'

'What did you say?' the girl challenged him, her anger flaring quickly.

'I said go home,' the boy replied, finally stopping and turning around to look her in the face. 'The world isn't like it used to be, surely even your smart enough to know that? Those lovely little stories about ten year olds going on happy adventures, you just can't do that these days. Sure, everything in the major towns and cities is safe and secure, but it's a whole different story out here. So that's it, the games over, go home.'

With that the boy turned around and continued on walking. The girl stood still on the spot for a moment, taking in his words. Then her face hardened as resolve and determination rose once again within her, and she hurried to catch up with the boy, falling into step beside him.

'I'm coming with you,' she said, when he ignored her. 'I can watch and learn from you, and become strong, so that I won't need protecting.'

The boy glanced sideways at her, and saw in her face that nothing he said would be capable of changing her mind. 'Suit yourself then,' he snorted in mock amusement. 'You won't last a day before you run off home crying.'

The girl ignored this last comment and smiled triumphantly to herself. _I'll show this boy_, she thought determinedly to herself. _I'll show him just how strong I can be!_

**Author Note: Well, that's the first chapter, more coming soon, please review! =]**


	2. Ignorance Was Bliss

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or associated characters, only characters of my own invention.**

** Chapter 2 – Ignorance Was Bliss**

'Where exactly are we going?' the brown eyed, blue haired girl asked curiously.

'That doesn't concern you,' replied the boy she was walking along next to in an expressionless tone, his gaze not leaving the slightly overgrown forested path down which they were walking.

Once the third busiest route between New Bark and Cherrygrove, over the last year or so traffic along this road had all but completely ceased due to the constant hijacking by bandits, with trucks and other vehicles choosing to take the other, much more open routes through the fields and plains slightly to the south.

'The hell it doesn't concern me?' came the irritated response from the girl.

The boy closed his eyes slightly, as if to block out her presence. The girl annoyed him for a number of reasons, probably too many to list on a regular sheet of paper, but he had resigned himself to putting up with her until the inevitable point at which she became discouraged and gave up on the ridiculous notion that had somehow worked its way into her head.

'You will not still be with me when I reach my destination. Therefore it doesn't concern you,' the boy replied evenly, still not looking back.

Although it might have seemed quite rude, the reason for his indifference couldn't be put down completely to that. As much as he hated to admit it, the girl was actually extremely good looking and, although a lot more serious than most guys his age, he was still a boy and therefore far from immune to feminine charm. The clothes the girl was wearing did nothing to help, if her skirt was any shorter there'd be no point wearing it in the first place. It was for this reason that the boy was refusing to look at her, he had an important mission to carry out and he wasn't about to let himself get distracted.

'Yeah, well you're wrong about that,' the girl said fiercely.

She was quickly realising that almost everything this boy did immediately got on her nerves. He was way too arrogant, and seemed to think that he was right about everything. Which obviously he wasn't. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that the girl was so determined to prove him wrong, she probably would have already left. As it was, she wasn't going to stop following him until he took back everything he'd said.

'So where are we going?' she asked again, not about to give up.

'Like I said, it doesn't concern you,' replied the boy, unable to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

The girl glared at the side of his head. Everything would be so much easier if he would just give her a straight answer. 'Why are we going wherever we're going?' she asked, changing tactics.

'That's classified,' replied the boy.

'My arse it is!' She was getting seriously annoyed now. Why couldn't he just give her a straight answer for once instead of being a stuck up loser?

The boy ignored her further, looking instead to the sky. It was beginning to darken as the sun slowly drifted below the trees to the west. Deciding it was time to stop for the evening, the boy scanned the forest for a suitable tree, sliding his backpack from his shoulders and depositing it at its base.

'We're camping here tonight are we?' inquired the girl, still trying to generate some sort of conversation.

Her efforts were to be in vain, however. 'Yeah, I am, not that it concerns you.'

Resisting with difficulty the urge to slap the boy across the face, she slung her bag down next to his and stalked off to sit on a nearby log, trying to make her annoyance as obvious as possible.

Leaving the girl to sulk to herself, the boy busied himself with creating a fire and cooking, deciding silently on making two pasta meals. He didn't want her to get the false impression that he was a complete bastard. Having finished, he took his share and walked a short distance away, staring at the setting sun as he ate.

Hearing the boy walk off, she turned and wandered over to fire to cook something for herself, pleasantly surprised when she noticed the leftover pasta. Maybe the boy wasn't so bad after all, she thought, deciding to cut him a bit of slack as she wandered back to the log, releasing Clarity her Mareep from her Pokeball as she went.

'You poor thing,' she said sadly, looking down at her Pokémon.

Although the little sheep seemed to have regained the most of its energy, its once beautiful fleece was dirty and dusty. As she offered the Mareep some of her pasta, the girl tried to bat off as much of the dirt and the dust she could with her hands.

'Sorry Clarity, but you're going to need a proper bath and brush sometime before you can look your best again.' The Mareep bleated, obviously not bothered by the state of its wool, and happily accepted some more pasta from its trainer.

'Don't let it eat too much of that, you'll make it sick.'

The girl looked up to see that the boy had returned, and was busying himself with setting up a tent.

'Thanks for the food,' she said, trying to sound grateful while at the same time suddenly resenting the fact that he had got so easily around the anger and annoyance that she had been feeling towards him only five minutes before.

'You're welcome,' the boy replied expressionlessly, erecting the tent in a fashion that suggested he had done it thousands of times before.

'So can you tell me where it is we're going now?' asked the girl, injecting tenderness into her voice to make it slightly pleading and vulnerable, yet not annoyingly so.

The boy shook his head, picking up a mallet and hammering in a tent peg. The series of chinks from the clash of metal on metal carried clearly through the silent forest.

'Why the hell not?' the girl asked angrily, annoyance and frustration at the boy quickly flooding back through her.

'I'm on a top secret mission; I can't tell you where I'm going,' said the boy matter-of-factly, moving to hammer in the next peg.

'Oh really? And what kind of mission might this be?' asked the girl, her tone full of scepticism as she crossed her legs.

'Like I said before, it's top secret and classified.'

The girl glared at him. He was without a doubt the most insolent boy she had ever met. 'At least tell me your name,' she said.

'My name doesn't concern you,' said the boy, moving around behind the tent to hammer in more pegs.

The girl leapt to her feet and actually stamped the ground in frustration. She was about to start yelling at the boy when suddenly there was a harsh whisper from behind.

'Don't move.'

She leapt in shock at the voice, and was about to whirl around and start shouting at whoever it was when she saw the blade of a silver knife at her throat and froze in terror.

'Wh-wh-what do you want?' she asked, the words catching in her throat.

'Everything you've got,' said the rough voice of a man, probably in his thirties. 'Hey, you! Come out here with your hands up or the girl dies!' he called towards the tent.

The boy stepped out from behind the tent with his hands raised, his face impassive.

'Excellent,' grinned the man. 'Carl, Matthew, grab all their possessions.'

There was a silence as nothing happened. 'Hey, guys? Hurry it up!' the man shouted in annoyance.

Still eyeing the knife and trying to stop herself from hyperventilating, the girl noticed something flying in from the left, and gasped as the unconscious body of a man landed at her feet. Several seconds of shocked silence later another body flew out from the encroaching darkness, bouncing off the first.

'What did you do?' the man demanded, looking at the boy with as much terror as the girl was looking at the knife and dragging her back with him.

'Did you really think you could get away with this so easily?' the boy asked, taking a few steps forward as he placed his hands in his pocket, casually strolling towards the man.

'I heard you coming from a long way away, and released my Pokémon when I knew you weren't paying attention,' he explained in a slightly bored voice.

'Pokémon?' gulped the man. He heard a soft whoosh and looked to his right, too late do anything.

The girl shrieked as there was the sound of a heavy thud behind her and the man was sent crashing into a tree, his knife jerking from his grip and landing on the ground out of his reach.

'Dragooo,' roared the Dragonite, stomping the man's hand into the ground as he went to let out a Pokémon of his own.

As the man yelled out in pain and tried desperately to free his hand from underneath the foot of the Dragonite, the boy walked nonchalantly up to him, confiscating his Pokeballs. The boy then walked out of the girl's line of sight, returning thirty seconds later with a coil of thick rope, obviously intended to tie the pair in the first place after their belongings had been taken.

'Dragonite, go tie them up somewhere,' he ordered, tossing the rope to his Pokémon before walking back to the tent and knocking in another peg as though nothing had happened.

The Dragonite gave the man whose hand upon he was still standing and quick jab to the temple, knocking him unconscious before picking him up along with the other two men and taking off into the sky, disappearing from sight.

The girl sat back down on the log, feeling faint. Two attacks in one day; she wasn't sure how much more she could take. Of course, this was exactly what the boy had warned her about. She wondered to herself now how she had been so naive to set off on the journey. It was too late to turn back now though.

'You might want to help your Mareep,' said the boy slightly coldly.

The girl jumped, awakening from her reverie to see him looking at her, having finished putting up the tent. She looked around and let out a cry of despair as she noticed Clarity tied to a nearby tree.

'I'm so sorry,' she apologized to her Mareep as she dashed over to the tree and tugged at the rope, trying to untie it. 'I can't get it undone,' she despaired, tugging desperately at the tight knot. The boy watched her struggle, before wandering away.

'Why don't you help?' the girl demanded loudly and angrily, tears spilling from her eyes as she desperately pulled at the rope. The events of the day, first nearly being violated and then having a knife held to her throat had made her extremely vulnerable emotionally, and she found that she was unable to hold back her feelings.

'Why are you such a jerk? Why do you care about nobody but yourself? Why are you so cold? Grow a heart damnit!' she yelled, the tears now pouring from her eyes as she slammed the ground with her fist.

Silence followed her outburst, and the only noise that could be heard was the sound of the girl sobbing miserably. Then suddenly she sensed his presence next to her, and looked up to see him holding the knife that had been dropped by the man. The boy walked around behind the tree and silently cut the rope, releasing Clarity into the arms of the girl, who hugged her Pokémon in relief, spilling fresh tears.

'Thanks,' she said, looking guiltily at the ground.

'I'm sorry for saying that stuff...' she muttered awkwardly.

'Whatever,' said the boy indifferently. 'By the way, what's your name again?'

'Tirrielle,' she replied quietly, surprised. It was the first question she could recall him asking her. 'And yours?'

'It doesn't concern you,' said the boy, walking back over to the tent.

In spite of herself, Tirrielle couldn't help smiling slightly.

**Author Note: Just a clarification about the mention of multiple routes between New Bark and Cherrygrove, for the purpose of this story the regions of Pokémon: Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh; are seen as continents rather than islands as traditional. Therefore everything exists on a slightly grander scale, with the main towns/cities named in the games becoming major centres.**


	3. Rise and Whine

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or associated characters, only characters of my own invention.**

** Chapter 3 – Rise and Whine**

'Goodbye.'

Tirrielle felt the voice dragging her back from the realms of subconsciousness and opened her eyes. For several moments everything was blurred with sleepiness, her thoughts still caught somewhere better dream world and real life as she grappled with the subject of where she was, blinking around at the unfamiliar surroundings. Gradually, however, everything came back to her. She was on a journey. Last night she had slept in her tent, the blue canvas of which she was now staring around at. Other details slowly filtered through her mind, memories from the previous day. She had been assaulted... A knife had been held at her throat... At the memory of these events fear rose inside of her. What was to prevent them from happening again? Then another image floated through her brain, the image of a boy. Her fear slowly ebbed away. As long as she was with the boy she would be safe. He was powerful, confident, arrogant and complacent, but he had saved her twice already. As long as she stayed close to him Tirrielle was confident that no harm would befall her. And he had just said goodbye to her.

Tirrielle jumped in shock as the realisation hit her, and frantically she reached for the tent zip, pulling it up quickly and sticking her head out through the flaps.

'Oi! Stop! Wait!'

The boy paused, already more than twenty paces away, and looked back.

'What is it?' he asked irritably.

'What the hell do you think you're doing? Wait for me!'

'It's eight in the morning; I've already eaten and packed up, so I'm leaving. I can't afford to waste time waiting around for you.'

He turned and continued to walk away. They boy wasn't sure himself why he had said goodbye as he had walked passed her tent. It would be been only too easy and much less complicated to just disappear without waking her.

'Hey! Don't you dare leave me! STOP!' the girl yelled.

He ignored her and continued walking.

'Damn, damn, damn, DAMN!' Tirrielle cursed, racing around her tent and pulling the pegs out as fast as possible, before stuffing her collapsed tent haphazardly into her bag and dashing after the boy, barefoot and wearing the pyjamas she had slept in.

'I hate you!' she yelled at the boy having caught up with him, now in an extremely bad mood.

'It's not like I told you to follow me,' he said in annoyance.

Tirrielle glared at him, resisting the urge to punch the boy in the side of the head.

'Whatever,' she muttered bitterly, wandering how she could possibly find a way to get changed into some proper clothes.

Several hours of walking in silence later and Tirrielle was beginning to feel distinctly annoyed. Still wearing her night clothes, starving with hunger and feeling the newly formed blisters on her feet more painfully with each step, she was starting to wonder how much more of this she could take. Desperate for some relief, she turned to the boy whose name she still had been unable to discern.

'How about stopping to eat lunch?' she suggested tentatively.

'Sure. Whatever,' the boy replied.

Surprised but relieved at his response, Tirrielle began scouting the area for a good spot to sit, flinging her back down against a nearby tree and sinking exhaustedly onto the grass beneath it.

The boy kept walking.

'Hey! Why aren't you stopping?' Tirrielle asked in annoyance.

'Waste of time,' he replied, not bothering to stop or look back.

'You agreed to stop just thirty seconds ago!'

'No,' said the boy in annoyance, still walking. 'You suggested you wanted to stop. I said whatever, since it didn't and still doesn't concern me.'

'Freakin' loser!' yelled Tirrielle, struggling to her feet, snatching her bag back up and hastening to catch up to the boy, glaring at the back of his head.

Needless to say, she was ignored.

'When are you eating lunch then?' Tirrielle demanded.

'I don't eat lunch whilst on missions,' replied the boy, continuing to stare directly in front.

'I haven't even had _breakfast_!' Tirrielle shouted in his ear.

'That has nothing to do with me,' said the boy, not the slightest bit defensive.

'You were about to leave me behind!'

'So?'

Tirrielle suddenly found the urge to punch the boy in the side of the head almost overwhelming, and forced herself to drop back several paces behind him while she tried to cool her temper, muttering insults and curses angrily under her breath.

They continued walking in silence for several more hours, Tirrielle forcing herself to push past the pain in her body and the hunger in her stomach, before the boy stopped quite suddenly and after a moments inspection left the dirt road, veering off into the forest. Confused as to what this was about, Tirrielle followed, hoping desperately that she would be able to rest soon.

Roughly another hour of walking later, by which time Tirrielle was cramping badly and biting so hard on her lip to suppress the rest of the pain throughout her body that blood was dripping steadily from it, the boy stopped, crouching down on the forest path. Tirrielle practically fainted in relief, tumbling to land sprawled on her side.

After about ten seconds however, the boy started walking again, stopping to crouch again several metres down the track. Tirrielle groaned, forcing her body to crawl after him. This process repeated itself five times, by which time Tirrielle's annoyance was starting to give her energy.

'What the hell are you doing?' she snapped in frustration, struggling to get back to her feet.

'Quiet,' ordered the boy emotionlessly, peering through the dense foliage of the trees.

'Tell me what the hell you're doing then,' the girl shot back, albeit in a quieter voice.

'You ask too many questions,' said the boy, sounding irritated.

'And you don't give enough answers,' Tirrielle retorted.

The boy scowled. 'There's a campsite up ahead,' he told her, before reaching into his left pocket and pulling out a Pokeball. He pressed the button on the top of the ball lightly with his finger to enlarge it and then open it, a Pokémon appearing with a small flash of light at his feet.

Tirrielle let out a small exclamation upon seeing the creature. The shape and color of a fox, with reddish eyes and nine long flowing tales, it was the most beautiful Pokémon Tirrielle had ever seen. Stretching and yawning, the Pokémon surveyed its surroundings, giving Tirrielle an odd look that bordered on confusion and disgust, before turning to the boy and tilting her head, as if to ask: _is she your girlfriend?_

The boy glared at his Pokémon, before whispering to her several instructions, which Tirrielle couldn't quite make out. The fox nodded almost lazily, before disappearing into the undergrowth with a flick of her many tails.

'Where's it going?' Tirrielle asked blankly.

'That doesn't concern you,' the boy replied, returning to full height and walking off again.

Cursing under her breath Tirrielle struggled to her feet using a branch for support and painfully followed after the boy.

She hadn't gone more than twenty paces before emerging from the forest into a small clearing. On the opposite side of the clearing was a clumsily erected shelter, made from cut down trees and covered with leaves and branches to keep out the rain. Two boys were sleeping under the shelter, and if she had to guess Tirrielle would have put their ages at 15 and 16 respectively. The two looked as though they had been living rough out here for a long time, their clothes ripped and torn and their hair long and un-kept.

Tirrielle watched as her travelling companion walked up to the boy and prodded them with his foot, looking disgusted.

'Ugh... What the hell is it?' mumbled the elder boy irritably as he awakened.

'I want to ask you a few questions.'

The long haired boy looked up blearily and then jumped as he saw the unfamiliar boy looking at him with distaste.

'Damn,' he cursed loudly and simply, leaping to his feet quickly and releasing a Pokémon.

'What is it Jared?' muttered the second boy sleepily, as Tirrielle's travelling partner, for want of a better word, walked back, his eyes on the Pokémon that had materialised. It stood on four legs, with a trunk that seemed to double as armoured protection and two long white tusks. Frankly Tirrielle had no idea as to what it was.

'A Donphan, is it?' remarked her "partner", answering Tirrielle's unspoken question.

The Donphan snorted angrily, pawing the ground in an intimidating display. Tirrielle subconsciously moved closer to the boy, her eyes on the tusks.

As the other kid struggled to his feet cursing as he noticed the immediate threat, the boy summed up the Donphan with a piercing look. He had battled several Donphan in the past, and from what he knew of the species the length of the tusks on this particular specimen indicated that it was male. Harder to determine was its skill and strength in battle, but the boy wasn't particularly worried. He reached into his pocket again and drew out another Pokeball, releasing the creature inside.

His Banette appeared in a small flash of light, a Marionette Pokémon with what appeared to be a zipper for a mouth and what looked like the end of a broomstick for a tail. The Banette cackled in characteristic fashion, swooping at the Donphan. Seemingly enraged by its antics the Donphan leapt without command at the Banette.

'Sucker Punch,' commanded the boy expressionlessly, and the Banette dodged to the side, avoiding the leap of Donphan before slamming a fist into its side, sending the Armor Pokémon tumbling into the bushes.

'Grab all the stuff and run for it!' the elder kid whose name I assumed to be Jared said slightly panicky to the younger boy, who nodded, racing around the shelter and stuffing things into a travelling bag.

Meanwhile the Donphan leapt back into battle in a rage of fury. 'Slam!' Jared ordered, and Donphan threw its body at the Banette, who cackled as the Donphan passed straight through.

'Did you honestly forget about normal type attacks not effecting ghosts?' the boy asked slightly incredulously. 'Faint attack.'

Banette grinned gleefully, throwing its doll-like body towards the Donphan, which moved instinctively to block, however the Banette suddenly disappeared, appearing beside the Donphan and slamming into its unguarded flank and taking it out.

There was a flash of red light as the Pokémon was sucked back into its Pokeball.

'Got everything!' announced the younger boy, flinging the bag over his shoulder.

'Let's go!' shouted Jared, and they attempted to flee from the clearing in a rather undignified fashion.

Tirrielle glanced at the short haired boy next to her, and she was surprised to find that he made no attempt to prevent them from escaping, merely looking bored and disinterested. As the two boys were about to disappear into the bushes however there was a flash of fire, and Tirrielle watched stunned as the nine-tailed fox Pokémon from earlier leapt from the shadows of the forest, expertly catching in her mouth the bag, the straps of which she had just burnt through.

'The bag!' the younger boy exclaimed.

'Forget about the bag, just run, run!' Jared shouted, and they fled into the forest, the sounds of sticks and branches snapping in their haste slowly drifting away.

'Good work Banette, Zoë,' said the boy in his slightly monotone voice, recalling them back with two flashes of red light as the nine tailed fox deposited the bag at his feet.

Tirrielle had blanked on the practically the whole battle, only now starting to realise how little she actually knew about Pokémon, despite having grown up around many of them. She had always avoided making Clarity her Mareep battle, and therefore had steered clear of them altogether. The actions of the boy were confusing her just as much right now however.

'Why did you let them get away?' she asked in confusion. It seemed to her that both the Banette and the Pokémon called Zoë would have been able to easily stop them.

'That does not concern you,' said the boy without paying any attention to the girl behind him, instead examining the contents of the bag. Apparently finding nothing worth mentioning, (Although Tirrielle highly doubted he would have spoken even if the bag contained diamonds), the boy reached into his pockets once more and released another new Pokémon. This species at least Tirrielle recognised, the yellow spiky haired fur identifying the quadruped as a Jolteon. Like Zoë, the Jolteon glanced in surprise at Tirrielle before turning to look questioningly at its master, although she could have sworn that the Jolteon was smiling mockingly.

The boy glared at his Pokémon, all but confirming it, before muttering a set of instructions to the Jolteon, who nodded now looking serious before leaving the clearing at a brisk walk, heading off after the two kids without much of a hurry.

'What did you tell it to do?' Tirrielle asked out of faint curiosity.

'Doesn't concern you,' the boy replied promptly, anticipating the question. Tirrielle gave him a icy stare, but was too exhausted to argue back. All of her strength was currently invested in keeping her standing.

'We're spending the night here,' the boy added, pointing at the shelter. 'That is if I am to assume that you are still following me around?'

'If you're trying to get rid of me you're going to have to do a better job,' she said irritably, staggering over to the shelter seeking food and most importantly rest.

The boy grinned to himself and then immediately shook his head slightly, trying to refocus his thoughts. He needed his mind to stay on the mission at hand; he couldn't allow her to distract him.

**Author Note: Oh look I added an Eon. x.x I know they're overused and appear in pretty much every Pokémon related fanfic, but I just couldn't resist, simply because like most people I'm quite fond of them. Don't worry though; I'll try to prevent them from making up 75% of the characters. ^^**

**Anyway, please review. Any feedback will be appreciated. =)**


	4. Welcome to the World

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or associated characters, only characters of my own invention.**

** Chapter 4 – Welcome to the World**

The tiny little creature opened its eyes, instinctively inhaling its first breath. The sudden vastness of its world was alarming, and an incredible force beat down upon it, leaving the creature dazed by its power. Prior to this the creature had known only darkness, and had never considered the possibility of anything else. Now however, the universe seemed to have been flipped on its head, and the creature recoiled instinctively from the light, stumbling and rolling backwards, anything to get away from the incredible power before it. The creature cried out loudly, discovering in the process that it could make sound, and that sound itself existed. There was no escaping the light though, and the creature resigned itself to its fate.

Slowly however the incredible power of the light seemed to ebb, as the newly hatched creatures eyes adjusted to their function. Gradually an image seemed to appear in front of the creature, its first view of the world in which it had hatched into. The creature however recognised nothing. After all, how is recognition possible if you have no memories? Before the creature could begin to make sense of the picture in front of him, however, something new seemed to enter it. The creature felt fear rise within it and froze, survival instincts kicking in. This new being came closer and closer until it stood over the hatchling. The sheer size of this being almost terrified the creature into fainting; it towered above the hatchling as it whimpered. Another being then seemed to appear behind the first, but this one hung back slightly. The arrival of the second being was too much for the tiny creature, and it cried out loudly, seeking help from what it didn't know. Noise then proceeded to echo into the hatchlings ears, a foreign and horrible sound, its first experience of laughter.

'_Skit, skitty!_ A loud one. Must be a boy!'

The creature cried out again at the loud and seemingly meaningless noise, before suddenly the world started to spin and when it stopped the gigantic beings were the other way up. The creature cried out even louder in indignity, flailing its tiny body against the strange force that seemed to have turned everything around. More of the laughter sounded out.

'_Ab, absol!_ Yep, it's a boy!'

Before the hatchling could cry out again, the world spun once more, and his four feet came in contact with the ground. Briefly they held his weight and the creature stood for the first time, before his little legs gave way and he tumbled to the floor, the hatchlings first experience with both the effects of gravity and the feeling of pain as his nose bumped against the floor. The creature immediately cried out in surprise at the sensation, prompting more laughter.

'_Skit skitty... Ski skit? _Such a cute Absol... What will you name it?'

There was silence for a few seconds, merciful silence, the ears of the hatchling still ringing slightly from all the noise that it wasn't accustomed to. Then there came one final syllable, a name that would one day be known and feared across the lands.

'Jet.'

**Author Note: Short chapter I know, but I didn't want to suddenly skip ahead a bit. You may also be wondering what this has to do with the first three chapters, and the answer to that is... you'll just have to wait to find out. ^^**


	5. On the Tail

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or associated characters, only characters of my own invention.**

** Chapter 5 – On the Tail**

'Goodbye,' said the boy simply as he left the clearing, heading into the forest. He pushed his hair slightly irritably out of his eyes as he started following the route that his Jolteon had taken the night before. It needed to be cut.

The boy's thoughts turned to the girl that was undoubtedly just now starting to stir from her slumber. He wondered how long it would take her this morning to realise that he had left without her, smiling as he imagined what she was going to yell at him today. She was amusing when she was angry.

As he waited for the inevitable, the boy turned his attention to the path in front of him. Looking ahead he could see several deliberately broken branches, signs left by his Jolteon to guide the way-

'HEY!' came the anticipated yell, and the boy rolled his eyes. He would have to teach her a thing or two about stealth and secrecy sometime, a shout that loud would easily have awoken every living creature within a half-mile radius.

The boy ignored the shout, weaving his way through the trees as he followed the signs. She caught up with him several minutes later, and he turned to find her still in her night clothes and wearing an extremely angry expression on her face. God she was cute, the boy thought, and then turned quickly away from her, scolding himself mentally.

'What the hell is wrong with you?' Tirrielle was demanding. 'At least give me some warning before you're going to leave!' Her voice dropped slightly and she started muttering angry, more to herself than him. 'Even five minutes would be nice, enough time to eat some breakfast, get changed... ugh, and I need to relieve myself... this sucks so much...'

Deciding that commenting would only lead to further yelling, the boy continued on through the forest, leaving Tirrielle to continue her rant as she followed along behind.

They walked throughout the day following the signs from the Jolteon, the path through the forest becoming wider and more worn the further they travelled. Tirrielle soon made a game of trying to spot the signs before the boy did, whether they were an arrow carved into a tree by electricity, an arrow drawn in the sand or a number of rocks placed to form the same shape. Some of the signs were rather elaborate, which gave Tirrielle the impression that Jolteon hadn't been in much of a hurry and also had a bit of a tendency to show off.

To her surprise Tirrielle was feeling much better than she had done the day before. Her legs felt strong, she had managed to eat some food as they walked and therefore wasn't hungry, and somehow her blisters didn't seem to hurt as much as they had. All in all it was enough to lift her mood and despite the emotionally cold and distant boy beside her, Tirrielle found she was enjoying herself for the first time since she had left home.

'Arrow ahead!' she exclaimed, pointing at a tree.

'I already saw that one,' said the boy.

'Liar! You can't just claim that, it ruins the game.'

'Who said I was playing the game?'

'I did,' said the girl.

'What you decide on your own does not concern me.' The boy altered his path slightly, following the course of the arrow.

'You're just a bad loser,' Tirrielle declared, and silence fell between them again as the boy refused to reply.

'We're getting close,' he said several minutes later. No sooner had he spoke than Jolteon came bounding out of the bushes, startling Tirrielle. The boy knelt down and patted his Jolteon. 'Good work,' he said softly.

'What are we close to?' Tirrielle asked, expecting a "does not concern you" answer. To her surprise however the boy actually answered her question. Maybe she was making progress. He still wasn't looking at her though, which irked Tirrielle slightly.

'Up ahead is the major base of this region for the Darkness Organisation.'

'Darkness Organisation?' repeated Tirrielle. The name sounded familiar, but she wasn't sure where she had heard it before.

'Criminal group,' said the boy.

'So you actually are on a mission?' said Tirrielle, more to herself than anything, before realising the boy had already taken several paces away, Jolteon trotting obediently at his side.

'Wait!' demanded Tirrielle exasperatedly, hurrying to catch up.

As they neared the camp they circled to the right, Tirrielle catching glimpses through the trees of a collection of shelters like the one they had slept under the previous night along with a few patched and faded tents. She also noticed at least a dozen people sitting around fires idly. The sight was enough to terrify Tirrielle and her breath caught in her chest. Suddenly she felt very vulnerable. How the hell had she ended up stalking around what appeared to be the main camp of a criminal organisation? She hoped the boy knew what he was doing. Tirrielle had already seen that the boy was strong, but she was worried about if he was strong enough to take on ten people at once. Come to think of it, she had no idea at all why he was here in the first place. Of course the boy would tell her that it was none of her concern, she thought, rolling her eyes.

They continued to circle, Tirrielle wondering what the boy was looking for. At about the opposite side of the camp to where they had started, he stopped and beckoned Tirrielle closer.

'I want you to stay here,' he told her seriously, looking into her eyes for perhaps the first time. Tirrielle blinked as his deep blue eyes met hers, but the boy didn't seem to require an answer, turning to stroll boldly into the campsite. She scrambled to find a better position, peering through a gap in the trees as she watched the boy wait to be noticed.

'Who're you?' she heard somebody snarl in his direction and watched as people stood up all over the camp, also appearing from inside tents.

'My identity does not concern you,' said the boy emotionlessly.

'Kieran... So nice to see you again...'

So Kieran was his name... Tirrielle smiled in triumph, watching as a boy looking around the same age as Kieran entered her view. The new boy had shorter hair than Kieran, slightly larger than average ears and was about the same height.

'Do I know you? What's your name?' Kieran asked coldly.

'Marcus. Semi-finals of the Under 20's Championship ring a bell?' said the boy cockily.

Kieran narrowed his eyes. 'You're working for them? Such a shame, you had potential...'

Marcus laughed coldly. 'My potential is so much higher now than it ever would have been had I not joined. I've seen the light, so to speak.' He chuckled, appreciating his own joke.

'Such as shame for you then that it all ends here...'

Marcus laughed again, and many of the others around him joined in. 'Well this should be entertaining... I'm much, much stronger than when we fought last, and yet you expect to defeat me and everyone else present in this camp all by yourself?' Marcus sneered.

Tirrielle tensed worriedly. It seemed an impossible task. Kieran however was unfazed. His Jolteon stood calmly by his side, reflecting his mood.

Marcus sneered again at his lack of response, producing a Pokeball from his faded jeans and flicking it onto the ground. A large purple dinosaur looking Pokemon burst forth, with a long tail, spines on its back, a dangerous looking horn on its head and ears that bore a bizarre resemblance to its trainer.

Kieran stepped back several paces to increase the distance between the dinosaur and his face, as the people around Marcus all released Pokémon in many different shapes and sizes, hardly any of which were recognised by Tirrielle. Kieran copied their movements, Zoë and his Dragonite appearing on either side of Jolteon.

'Whenever you're ready then,' said Kieran.

As if on cue the purple dinosaur charged, throwing its head forwards and aiming the sizeable horn on it at Jolteon. The lightning eon dodged nimbly to the side, pivoting and striking with two well placed kicks in a row. A barrage of elemental attacks from the other Pokémon flew in from the side, but Zoë and Dragonite each fired a Flamethrower, negating the attacks.

'I'm not messing around. Nidoking, Earthquake,' ordered Marcus, grinning slightly manically.

Kieran's eyes widened slightly, but he remained calm, recalling Jolteon and Zoë in the blink of an eye. He then stepped onto Dragonite's back and they took to the sky, an instant before the Nidoking slammed its foot into the ground, creating a shock wave which threw Tirrielle off her feet at is passed her. She scrambled back to her knees and peered through the trees again to survey the destruction in the campsite. Tirrielle soon realised that she had got off lightly, near the epicentre of the blast there wasn't a single thing left standing, be it human, Pokémon, tent or shelter. Some of the tents had even collapsed onto the fires, and smoke started to rise as the material burnt through.

Marcus too had fallen to the ground, and he glared upwards towards Kieran as he pushed himself to his feet. Having successfully dodged the attack, Dragonite dropped back to the ground, allowing Kieran to step lightly from its back.

'Thanks for that,' he said unsmilingly, while Marcus glared back. 'Blizzard.'

As Dragonite concentrated its powers, a chill wind rushed passed Tirrielle, making her shiver. The wind swirled around Dragonite, before being thrown forth in a flurry of ice and snow which crashed into the Nidoking, turning it from purple to blue.

'Slam,' said Kieran, and Dragonite followed up its earlier attack, hitting Nidoking across the side of its head with its tail and knocking it out.

Marcus recalled Nidoking, but his face held a smirk that seemed out of place for the situation. Suddenly out of the corner of her eye Tirrielle saw a black and yellow striped winged Pokémon that looked like a bee flying towards Kieran from behind, and recognised it as a Beedrill.

'You're too complacent and arrogant Kieran. And now it's going to cost you...'

'Look out!' Tirrielle yelled desperately, but the Beedrill was closing in and she knew he would never react in time to avoid its oversized stingers...

**Author Note: Yay for cliff hangers. And yay for giving protagonists actual names. Makes it so much easier to write. =)**


	6. Like Brother Unlike Sister

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or associated characters, only characters of my own invention.**

** Chapter 6 – Like Brother Unlike Sister**

As the Beedrill swooped down towards Kieran, aiming for his exposed neck, a sharp gust of air speared in on an angle, knocking the bee out of the sky. Clutching her chest in relief, Tirrielle quickly scanned the direction from which the attack had come, attempting to locate its source. Kieran spun around quickly, surveying the surrounding forest, before turning back to Marcus with an icy stare. Marcus returned the glare, looking around to see how many of his colleagues had regained consciousness. Most hadn't, while the ones that had looked rather unwilling to continue the battle. Growling in annoyance, he reached down to grab another Pokeball.

'Give up,' Kieran told him.

'Why should I?' Marcus retorted.

'I'd listen to him,' advised a female voice, coming from the same direction that the air attack had. Tirrielle craned her neck more to see the speaker, watching as a woman dropped from the back of a large flying Pokémon. Her hair was long and dark brown, the same shade as Kieran's, and she looked to be in her twenties. Kieran looked over to her, and to Tirrielle's surprise he rolled his eyes.

'Why are you here?' he asked.

The woman frowned in response. 'What sort of a greeting is that?'

'An unwelcome one,' said Kieran shortly. 'I don't need your help...'

The woman rolled her eyes. 'What about that Beedrill then bro?'

'Meh. I had that covered,' said Kieran dismissively.

'Whatever,' the woman muttered sceptically, before turning her attention to Marcus. 'Get lost.'

'What are you doing here?' asked Marcus, and Tirrielle thought she detected a slight note of fear in his voice.

'Just thought I'd come check up on how my baby bro is doing,' she stated cooly, while Kieran looked annoyed at the term of reference.

Marcus backtracked several steps, and then motioned to those around him, all of which had by now managed to recover from the Earthquake. 'C'mon, we're leaving,' he said, turning to face the forest slightly to the left of Tirrielle.

'Why?' asked one. 'She's just a girl...'

'Just shut up and run!' Marcus shouted at him, sprinting towards Tirrielle, who hid behind the thickest tree she could find as he passed her, followed by the others, some of which were looking distinctly confused by the sudden retreat. Tirrielle was also a little mystified. The woman had called herself Kieran's sister. Could it be possible that she was actually stronger than he was?

'Why did you scare them away?' questioned Kieran as the last of them scrambled away from the wrecked campsite, dragging an unconscious colleague with them.

'Wasn't it you who told him to get lost?' the woman replied, raising her eyebrows.

'No, I told him to give up,' said Kieran a tone of annoyed disapproval. 'Wasn't I meant to capture them?'

'My bad,' the woman shrugged. 'Just capture them in the town.'

'I would have captured them here if you hadn't interfered,' Kieran muttered, turning away from her to recall his Dragonite. His sister frowned.

'You would have been lying on the ground dying if it wasn't for me,' she said quietly.

'I had it covered,' he said, and then cried out in surprise a second later as she hit him over the back of his head with her hand. 'What was that for?' he demanded angrily.

'Honestly Kieran, start acting more responsible and stop being such a child. You're so arrogant it's going to get you killed soon. You can't just go walking into an enemy camp without carefully observing and planning beforehand.'

Kieran glared at her, but didn't seem to have anything to say, and Tirrielle took the momentary break in the conversation/lecture to step out from behind the tree and enter the campsite, clearing her throat nervously to announce her presence.

Kieran's sister twirled around in alarm to face her, her flying Pokémon starting menacingly towards Tirrielle, who saw the intent in its eyes and threw up her arms in panic.

'Wait!' she cried out as the bird lifted itself from the ground, aiming for her. 'I'm with him!'

The woman glared angrily at Tirrielle, but motioned for her Pokémon to stop momentarily.

'That's honestly the worst excuse that I've ever heard. If you knew my brother at all, you would know that he doesn't travel with anyone. And even if he was travelling with someone, the last kind of person I would expect to find him with is a girl like you!'

'It's true!' Tirrielle proclaimed desperately, sensing the woman was about to set the bird on her.

Wearing a look of drop dead scepticism, the woman turned to Kieran, who was facing the other way. 'Is she with you?'

No reply. The woman gave Tirrielle a "told you so" look, before motioning the bird forwards again. 'Piiiiiidge,' it screeched out a long syllable of its name, before flapping its wings a swooping forwards towards Tirrielle, who screamed, her hands in front of her face.

'Yes,' answered Kieran finally, just loud enough to be heard over Tirrielle's screams.

Immediately the woman called for the Pokemon to halt just in time to stop its beak tearing through the flesh on Tirrielle's arms, and goggled at Kieran with a mixture of surprise and amusement, circling around so that she was facing him.

'You have a girlfriend?' she asked, a broad grin now spreading over her face as she looked up at Tirrielle, as if appraising her.

'She's not my girlfriend,' muttered Kieran, refusing to look at his sister.

'It's okay, you can tell me...' she said in a mock soothing tone, grinning mischievously.

Kieran glared at Tirrielle, as if blaming her for all this. Tirrielle blinked back, a little taken aback by the sudden change in demeanour of his sister.

'So you have a sister?' Tirrielle asked, asking the first question that came into her head. Kieran scowled and turned away from the both of them.

The woman shook her head with a smile. 'Guess I'll have to introduce myself then. I'm Alexa, Kieran's big sister and the fourth member of the Elite Four.' She smiled at Tirrielle, whose eyes widened in surprise.

'E-Elite Four!' she spluttered.

'Yeah,' said Alexa. 'And let me apologize in advance for my brother... Nobody is sure why, but he seems to have been born without a heart.'

Tirrielle laughed, nodding. 'Yeah, I think I've seen that side of him once or twice. I'm Tirrielle.'

'So how did you two meet?' Alexa asked, pulling up a log and sitting down, appearing thoroughly interested.

'It was a couple of days ago, I was being attacked and Kieran saved me with his Dragonite.'

Alexa nodded. 'So then how did you end up travelling with him?'

'I kinda, followed him,' Tirrielle muttered, blushing slightly.

'Wait, and he didn't just disappear the next morning before you woke up?' Alexa seemed surprised.

'Well, almost,' said Tirrielle. 'He woke me as he was leaving, I didn't even get to change...'

'But he woke you up though, which I think is a first,' said Alexa thoughtfully. 'Kieran actually attracts a lot of girls, but he either disappears on them or they get sick of his personality and leave.'

'What girls?' Kieran muttered, still looking away. Alexa grinned at Tirrielle.

'Girls talk, rumours spread, my bro,' she replied, before turning back to Tirrielle. 'He must really like you if you're still around,' she said in a mock whisper, winking.

Tirrielle blushed. Kieran said nothing, but she was sure she could hear his teeth grinding in frustration.

'So are you a trainer?' Alexa asked, and the conversation switched to Pokémon. Tirrielle was surprised to find Alexa was almost the exact opposite of Kieran, and not all what she would have expected from an Elite Four member, a very select group comprising of the most powerful trainers in the world. Tirrielle was also surprised at how quickly she seemed to have been accepted by Alexa, and found herself greatly enjoying the female company as the afternoon turned into evening, and they ate dinner and fed the Pokémon. Tirrielle learned that while on missions Pokémon were only fed once every few days unless used in battle or other purposes, as being in a Pokeball they expended little energy, and feeding them less often meant that they could pack less food and therefore travel faster and more efficiently. Alexa also explained to her that it was common for them to only carry a party of four Pokémon while on missions, for the same reason.

'Any news on Mikhael?' Kieran asked his sister, breaking the temporary silence that had fallen as they sat around the campfire.

Alexa should her head, looking grim. 'Who's Mikhael?' asked Tirrielle. The name sounded familiar to her for some reason.

'The Champion,' said Alexa, answering the question of where Tirrielle recognised the name from. The Champion was known as the most powerful trainer alive.

'He went missing not long after the League Championships last year, and hasn't been seen since,' Alexa explained. 'But that's classified information,' she continued, looking seriously at Tirrielle, who nodded.

'Well anyway,' said Alexa with a yawn. 'I'm going to get some sleep.'

'Night,' said Tirrielle cheerfully, while Kieran looked pointedly in the opposite direction.

'Would you like me to wake you up tomorrow so he doesn't leave without you?' Alexa offered, smiling.

'Yes, please,' said Tirrielle gratefully as she stood up to head to her own tent. It had been another long day...

**Author Note: Apologies for the delay between chapters, I've been busy with Uni exams. Six weeks of holidays now before next semester though, so hopefully updates will be fairly frequent. =)**


	7. Oxidated Metal

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or associated characters, only characters of my own invention.**

** Chapter 7 – Oxidated Metal**

The creature wobbled unsteadily on its legs, taking its first tentative attempts at walking, pushed forwards by its instincts of survival. Jet was no more than four hours old, and yet already he yearned to explore his surroundings, and to learn more about the world in which he found himself. His quadrapedal body was covered in mostly white fur, with a black scythe curling from the right side of his head. His face was also black, with another black patch of fur in the form of an oval on his forehead, and his tail was the same color, also bearing somewhat of a resemblance to a scythe.

Jet lifted his left paw off the ground, but as he was quickly discovering, doing this altered his whole balance, and suddenly the little Absol found his body tipping over. Desperately he tried to put it back down, but his legs splayed uncontrollably and he found his body sinking towards the ground as his legs slid further and further apart. Frantically Jet fought to regain his balance, somehow managing to bring his front legs back together. Walking was so difficult, so how did those other larger creatures make it look so easy?

Taking a momentary break from learning to walk, Jet gazed around at his world. Grey surrounded him, but scattered amongst this monotonous background were splashes of color, some moving objects and some appearing stationary, although Jet hadn't yet worked out that they were in fact the same thing. Looking straight ahead he saw a big group of these moving objects, and his already well developed curiosity drew him forwards.

Applying all his concentration to the task at hand, Jet slowly began to walk towards the shapes, moving one step at a time. Each step forwards took what seemed like a lifetime and the distance seemed as far as the Earth is from the Moon. The effort of walking was great and halfway across Jet's legs collapsed under him and he slumped to the ground. Determined to reach his destination, Jet continued to crawl, dragging his body along the ground.

Finally after what seemed like half of his short life, Jet made it to the group, and dragged himself bravely up next to another Pokémon several times his size, curiosity getting the better of his intimidation. Inside the small circle of Pokémon was another creature the same size as Jet, and with almost identical features. The only noticeable different between them, one that neither of the two were yet aware of was that the Pokemon in the centre was a shade of copper as opposed to black.

Wanting some attention for himself, Jet crawled forwards, but one of the bigger shapes suddenly pushed him mercilessly backwards. Jet rolled backwards and slumped to the ground, whimpering and dragging his paws over his nose. Exhausted from the exertion of dragging his small body Jet lay still, recovering his energy and feeling rather sorry for himself after being pushed away for no reason.

Another Pokémon crawled up to Jet and nudged him with its nose. Jet rolled over and blinked in blank surprise. The Pokémon he was looking at was both smaller than him and variant in color, with large ears, a cat like face and strange tail with a reed like appearance. The Pokémon tilted its head sideways at Jet, as if wondering what he was, and then pawed clumsily at his face. Jet rolled back to his feet and pawed back at the other Pokémon and they began to play instinctively, Jet quickly forgetting about his earlier experience.

Over the next few days, Jet learnt quickly. After continuously practicing, Jet soon became able to walk almost without thinking, and was constantly exploring his environment, which, although it seemed to consist of nothing more than a large rectangle, delivered endless fascinating possibilities to Jet. He was accompanied by his little pink friend, and together they bumped into every inch of surrounding wall, finally coming to the conclusion that it was the extent of their world, although Jet had noticed that every time he approached a particular corner one of the adult Pokémon would herd him back towards the middle of the room. He also noticed some of the adults seemed to appear and disappear from that corner, but he wasn't sure how that was possible. Jet guessed that there was some sort of trick to disappearing through the door, but he hadn't figured it out just yet.

Jet was just starting to get comfortable in his world, when on his fourth day of existence it was interrupted by the appearance of something much larger than the adults, and which even they seemed to be slightly cautious of, and certainly very respectful around. Jet heard the term "humans" passed around between the adults when the two creatures arrived, and when one of them spoke, the adults rushed around, shoving all the babies into lines. Jet growled as one of the adults shoved him away from his pink friend and into a separate group with other Pokémon the same shape as him. Immediately Jet growled again as he saw the copper colored baby facing him. He had quickly grown to hate this creature for the attention that it stole from him; the adults would always let it eat first and punish anything that got in the way, which most often happened to be Jet. It was already obvious that he was by far the bravest and most daring of all the babies.

While the adults stood back and watched, the "humans" examined all of the babies, starting with the group of pink colored Pokémon, one of which was Jet's friend, and which he had come to know of as Skitty. Next they moved on to a group of black Pokémon called Poochyena, whose fur was messy and stuck out in places, as opposed to Jet's sleek coat. The third group of Pokémon were green and blue, with strangely elongated heads and known as Electrike. Finally, the two humans moved on to Jet's group.

'Absol, this is what Dominic really wanted...' said one of them, Jet only registering the "Absol" that he had come to know as his species.

'Omgosh, is that a shiny one?' said the second human, and Jet watched on slightly jealously as the copper colored Absol was plucked from the ground and examined carefully. He didn't know what these humans were looking for or what they wanted, but Jet hated the other Absol for getting the attention all the same, and growled to express this, prompting the other human to reach down and examine him too. Jet growled almost continuously in annoyance as the human then proceeded to turn him upside down, run some sort of tape over different angles of his body, hang him from a metal instrument and then stick something long and thin into his body, prompting him to yelp in pain and try to bite the human with his quickly developing teeth. The human was too quick for him however, and Jet earned a sharp smack to the head and was sent tumbling back to the rest of the group, all of which were then subjected to the same procedure, though with noticeable less aggression than Jet after seeing him get smacked.

Having finished with all of the Absol, the humans left through that mysterious corner, which seemed almost to open for them. With the humans gone, the adults relaxed and the little groups of Pokémon dispersed across the room. Jet, who hadn't forgotten being chosen second, followed after the copper colored Absol. After glancing around to check that none of the adults were watching, as what he was about to do was sure to earn him a smack, Jet pounced on the other Absol, dragging it to the ground and sinking his teeth into his shoulder with as much force as he could. The copper Absol yelped in pain and started struggling, but Jet clung on desperately, tasting for the first time a strange metallic substance in his mouth.

The adults had however heard the yelping, and they rushed quickly over to the pair of struggling Pokémon, wrenching Jet from the other Absol and sending him crashing to the ground as they yelled things that Jet didn't understand at him. One of the adult Absol seemed particularly angry, following after Jet and beating him several more times across the head with her paw as he tried to retreat. Eventually it seemed to feel that he had been punished sufficiently, and backed off, leaving Jet to curl up battered and bruised in a distant corner of the room, whimpering to himself. His friend the Skitty came over to lick his face timidly, seeming equally as confused as Jet as to why he had been punished so brutally.

After several minutes another Absol, which Jet vaguely identified as his mother came over, and she spoke words to him, not in an angry voice but a soothing and peaceful tone. Jet failed to understand almost everything that she said, but one word stuck in his consciousness, and he knew somehow that it was the name of the copper colored Absol. Rust. The hate Jet felt towards this other Absol was slowly building, and the beating he had just received had done plenty to help it grow. It seemed like Rust was going to get special treatment with everything, and Jet decided that he would have to fight hard to make its life as difficult as possible, whatever the consequences.

**Author Note: Another delayed chapter... Dx Writing hasn't really been flowing, so I've been going on a paragraph a night sort of basis, which doesn't exactly make for quick updates. Hopefully the next one will be a little more speedy. :x**


	8. Standing Out

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or associated characters, only characters of my own invention.**

** Chapter 8 – Standing Out**

Tirrielle yawned as she followed Kieran along the path taken by the gang they had fought with yesterday. She still wasn't sure exactly who they were, or why they were following them, but at least her chat with Alexa the night before had cleared some things up. Other the other hand, it had also asked some more questions, such as why the champion was missing. This worried Tirrielle more than anything else she had heard in the past few days. What sort of thing would cause the strongest trainer alive to disappear, and how powerful would such a force have to be? The thought made Tirrielle uneasy, and she unconsciously moved closer to Kieran. She yawned again, lamenting her lack of sleep. Although this morning had gone much more smoothly than the previous two, with Alexa waking her, Tirrielle still didn't feel all that much better, and yawned loudly all through the morning. Understandably, this irritated Kieran.

'Can you stop yawning?' he muttered.

'I'm tired though,' said Tirrielle.

'Well walk further behind so I don't have to hear it then,' Kieran suggested coldly.

'It's not my fault you keep getting me up so early,' Tirrielle shot back.

'I'm not making you come,' said Kieran, and an irritable silence fell between them that lasted for most of the day. Tirrielle spent the morning forcing her legs to keep walking, after the previous two days her muscles were aching and every step was an effort. Alexa had warned her about this in the morning, the first and third days were always the hardest, she had said. Although Tirrielle had trusted her on this, she had never expected it to be quite this hard. Although far from unfit, Tirrielle had never walked anywhere near this far in her life, and her legs were struggling to adapt to the new workload they were expected to cope with. Kieran either failed to notice how much she was struggling, or decided to test her, as he increased the walking pace as if trying to leave Tirrielle behind. Somehow she managed to stay with him as the sun crossed the sky and began to fall towards the horizon and they emerged from the forest onto a long, flat plain covered in long brown grass that was looking rather desperate for water. It was only a week or two until the rainy season, and Tirrielle could imagine how pretty it would look when it was all green.

As evening approached, Tirrielle saw what looked like houses on the horizon.

'A town?' she asked. Kieran nodded.

'It's the main base of this region for them.'

'When you say them...?'

'The people we fought yesterday.'

'I realized that,' said Tirrielle. 'Who exactly are they.'

'The Darkness League.'

'The Darkness League? Not a very original bad guy title.'

'Even less original when you consider that the name is based off The Light League.'

'The Light League?' queried Tirrielle.

'Those committed to keeping the darkness at bay. Most gym leaders and powerful trainers are members.'

'Are you a member?' asked Tirrielle, and Kieran nodded.

'My mission is to drive The Darkness League out of this area.'

'Well that makes a bit more sense now then,' said Tirrielle. 'How are you going to drive them out though?'

'By battling,' said Kieran simply.

As they neared closer to the town, Kieran considered his options. He needed to drive The Darkness League out of town, which was guaranteed to involve battling at some point, however depending on how well he managed to plan it the amount and difficulty of the battles would vary. No matter which way he looked at it however, this was likely to be extremely difficult, one person against probably half a town. Then there was the problem of keeping them out. Part of Kieran's mission here would be to ensure that The Darkness Organisation didn't return almost as soon as they had been driven away. But that would come later. Right now he needed to come up with a plan to drive them out in the first place.

Kieran wondered what he should do with Tirrielle. From all evidence he had concluded that she would of no assistance in the battle, and would only need saving if he allowed her to try. He thought briefly about leaving her behind on the outskirts of the town, but she was the sort of girl to ignore warnings and orders and follow him from a distance, which would lead to all sorts of problems. And even if she did wait, Kieran couldn't guarantee that the enemy wouldn't discover her as they fled the town. In the end, Kieran knew that his only option was to make sure that she stayed as close behind him as possible so that he could prevent her from being caught and used as a hostage.

Half an hour later they began to pass houses, and slowly Kieran and Tirrielle worked their way towards the centre of the town, trying to blend in as much as possible and not arouse suspicion; although Kieran scowled as he looked over Tirrielle's outfit, which was guaranteed to attract attention from a mile away. Sure enough as they walked down the main street they were followed by a steadily increasing group of men, all of which luckily had eyes for nobody but Tirrielle and didn't even bother to look at Kieran, who was sure to be recognised by anyone who had been at the campsite the previous day.

Looking around at the town, Kieran could clearly see the impact that The Darkness League had had upon it. The buildings were noticeably shabbier with broken windows dotted around the place and the majority of people they passed in the street appeared thin and also seemed to lack spirit, as if the fun had disappeared from their lives.

Kieran had decided to go straight to the Gym. Once a fully functioning Gym that like the others served to protect the town, it had been overcome and transformed into a base for all the roadblocks that had been set up in the region. Kieran knew that all the stolen goods collected were brought here before being distributed across the regions and sold on the blackmarket. The funds would then be used to continue the slow creep of darkness into the streets of towns.

They rounded a corner, and glimpsed the Gym at a distance. As Kieran had expected, it was heavily guarded. Looking back at the steadily increasing group of men, some of which had started whistling, Kieran had a stroke of inspiration.

'Want to help?' he asked Tirrielle.

'Sure,' she replied, sounding surprised. 'But how can I help?'

Smiling slightly to himself, Kieran lowered his voice and began to explain.

'Are you sure this is going to work?' asked Tirrielle, sounding nervous and a little sceptical.

'Oh it'll work,' said Kieran, glancing at her outfit again and thinking to himself that every cloud really did have a silver lining.

'Hello?' Tirrielle said to the nearest guard as she reached a short set of stairs that led to the slightly raised Gym.

'Hi,' greeted the guard, who Kieran could tell was holding back his enthusiasm so as not to put Tirrielle off.

'Hello, um, do you think you can let us in...? All these people are intimidating me...'

The guard looked to the other side of the door at his fellow, who was barely concealing his grin.

'Who's he?' the first guard asked, pointing suspiciously at Kieran, who was doing his best at looking rather nervously to the side and feigning obliviousness to the conversation.

'Just a servant,' said Tirrielle without a glance in Kieran's direction.

'He can stay here then,' said the guard. Tirrielle shook her head.

'I'd rather he came inside, where I can keep an eye on him. Do not worry; you won't even notice his presence.'

Reluctantly the guards agreed, opening the doors and following Tirrielle and Kieran inside, to a chorus of insults and yells from the men outside.

Once inside, Kieran quickly scanned the room. They appeared to be in the main battle area of the Gym. Steps in front of where they were standing led down to a field which was surrounded by stadium like seating. The room appeared deserted and empty, but Kieran could see several doors leading off to the side.

'So what's your name?' asked the guard, stepping closer to Tirrielle and taking her hand.

'Oh, um,' said Tirrielle, backing away and clearly unsure of if she should answer, but a second later the guard crashed to the ground unconscious, solving her dilemma.

'Hey you!' started the other guard, but before he could anything more an orange blur had thrown him down on top of his comrade.

'You're so impatient,' muttered Tirrielle, looking slightly sick as she glanced down at the two guards lying at her feet.

Kieran ignored her, and began walking towards one of the doors on the left, followed by his Dragonite.

'Don't I at least get a "well done", or even a "thanks"? asked Tirrielle as she hurried to catch up.

'I don't know. Do you?' replied Kieran as he opened the first door he reached and stopped as he saw what was inside.

'What is it?' Tirrielle asked, standing on the tips of her toes to see over his shoulder.

Inside the room were at least fifty men, all sitting around tables and eating their evening meal. Tirrielle recognised several of them from the other day, and realised that they had stumbled inadvertently into the main dining hall. Many of the men had looked up as they had heard the door open, and a cry went up across the room as they recognised Kieran, soon alerting the whole room to their presence. As the first few started towards them, Kieran calmly closed the door.

'Let's try a different room.'

**Author Note: Oops, added without putting a note. .-. Um, yeah, writing still not really flowing. ._. Will update when I actually manage to finish the chapters. I work on it like every day, but distractions are everywhere so it's slow progress.**


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